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The demography of Acacia stands on the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve
Little is known about the demographics of the genus Acacia in Africa, despite its prominence and the economic and environmental importance of this group. The demographics and species composition of stands of four different Acacia species was investigated in the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve in nort...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Plant Conservation Unit (PCU)
2017
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| _version_ | 1867613276050817024 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Mader, André Derek |
| author2 | Midgley, Jeremy J |
| author_browse | Mader, André Derek Midgley, Jeremy J |
| author_facet | Midgley, Jeremy J Mader, André Derek |
| author_sort | Mader, André Derek |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Little is known about the demographics of the genus Acacia in Africa, despite its prominence and the economic and environmental importance of this group. The demographics and species composition of stands of four different Acacia species was investigated in the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve in northern Kwazulu-Natal in order to determine whether stands were self-replacing, or whether other Acacia species were invading them. Soil and stand density as well as the density and composition of the grass layer were investigated in order to determine whether any of these affected Acacia demography and species composition. In three out of four cases, the species whose large size class dominated the stand (known as the "stand species") was found to have a strongly bimodal size class distribution, skewed primarily towards the large size class and secondarily towards the small size class. Other Acacia species in the stands, with few or no large individuals present ("nonstand species") tended to have unimodal size class distributions, skewed primarily towards the small size class and secondarily towards the medium size class. Based on the proportion of small to large individuals, non-stand species are more likely to increase in overall numbers in future, suggesting that the species composition of the stands may be in a state of flux. Few relationships were found between stand density, grass density, grass composition and numbers of small and medium acacias. This could be as a result of differentiation between Acacia species, meaning that they cannot be analysed collectively. Furthermore, sample sizes of individual species may have been too small to analyse individually. Alternatively, it could mean that none of these factors have a significant effect on one another and that other explanations need to be found for the demographics of this genus. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/24831 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:33:33.643Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publishDateRange | 2017 |
| publishDateSort | 2017 |
| publisher | Plant Conservation Unit (PCU) |
| publisherStr | Plant Conservation Unit (PCU) |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/24831 The demography of Acacia stands on the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve Mader, André Derek Midgley, Jeremy J Botany Plant Ecology Plant Conservation Little is known about the demographics of the genus Acacia in Africa, despite its prominence and the economic and environmental importance of this group. The demographics and species composition of stands of four different Acacia species was investigated in the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve in northern Kwazulu-Natal in order to determine whether stands were self-replacing, or whether other Acacia species were invading them. Soil and stand density as well as the density and composition of the grass layer were investigated in order to determine whether any of these affected Acacia demography and species composition. In three out of four cases, the species whose large size class dominated the stand (known as the "stand species") was found to have a strongly bimodal size class distribution, skewed primarily towards the large size class and secondarily towards the small size class. Other Acacia species in the stands, with few or no large individuals present ("nonstand species") tended to have unimodal size class distributions, skewed primarily towards the small size class and secondarily towards the medium size class. Based on the proportion of small to large individuals, non-stand species are more likely to increase in overall numbers in future, suggesting that the species composition of the stands may be in a state of flux. Few relationships were found between stand density, grass density, grass composition and numbers of small and medium acacias. This could be as a result of differentiation between Acacia species, meaning that they cannot be analysed collectively. Furthermore, sample sizes of individual species may have been too small to analyse individually. Alternatively, it could mean that none of these factors have a significant effect on one another and that other explanations need to be found for the demographics of this genus. 2017-08-01T13:46:42Z 2017-08-01T13:46:42Z 2003 2017-02-23T14:09:12Z Bachelor Thesis Honours BSc (Hons) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/24831 eng application/pdf Plant Conservation Unit (PCU) Faculty of Science University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Botany Plant Ecology Plant Conservation Mader, André Derek The demography of Acacia stands on the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve |
| thesis_degree_str | Bachelor's / Honours |
| title | The demography of Acacia stands on the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve |
| title_full | The demography of Acacia stands on the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve |
| title_fullStr | The demography of Acacia stands on the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve |
| title_full_unstemmed | The demography of Acacia stands on the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve |
| title_short | The demography of Acacia stands on the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve |
| title_sort | demography of acacia stands on the hluhluwe umfolozi game reserve |
| topic | Botany Plant Ecology Plant Conservation |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/24831 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT maderandrederek thedemographyofacaciastandsonthehluhluweumfolozigamereserve AT maderandrederek demographyofacaciastandsonthehluhluweumfolozigamereserve |